Lucid
by ayushi
Summary: "Ash watched himself struggle in the sleeping bag, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep before Misty dragged him out forcefully.He gulped and thought there was something wrong with that sentence..." In which Ash experiences lucid dreaming for the first time, opening his mind to feelings he did not know existed.


**A/N:** A very Happy New Year to everyone, may it be filled with lots and lots of Pokeshipping happiness!

This is something that I was supposed to post for Pokeshipping week, but never got the chance to because of submissions and everything. So here it is 2 months late, my take on the first prompt: if Misty never left. Hope you enjoy this!

 **Disclaimer:** Nope, I don't own Pokeani.

-x-

One of the things that really used to disappoint his Mom when he was younger was the fact that Ash could never remember his dreams. Whenever he was at home, she would occasionally ask him if he had dreamed about something nice and not wanting to upset her, he always used to make up something about Pokémon battles with a little bit of weirdness to make her laugh.

So when he jolted awake, sweat all over his body and the images etched into his brain like a movie playing on repeat, he really had no idea how to react. This was the first time that he had ever dreamed or rather remembered his dream and a certain redhead's face was now plastered all over his mind. He shook his head vigorously hoping that the memories will all just fall out if he did that. After a while Ash realized that that's not how the human mind works and he decided to take a walk.

He stealthily slipped out of their campsite, turning his head back one last time to check if everyone was still sleeping and whether his tiny best friend had sensed his absence or not. Watching Pikachu sleep comfortably curled around his cap brought a smile to Ash's face and his tensed body relaxed just a little.

Ash walked alongside the riverbank they had camped around, he didn't stop until he was sure that he had reached a spot from where the others won't be able to hear him. He closed his eyes and let out a loud, frustrated groan. He ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even further and when he opened his eyes, he noticed his reflection in the river. He stepped a little closer to the river and leaned in slightly. His reflection was swaying with the water and his blurred face brought back the dream he had just tried so hard to shake off.

This dream had been one of the strangest experiences of his life and yet it had felt so real, so _right_. Maybe all dreams were always like that, Ash wondered and decided that he wanted to go back to not being able to remember them, because even though all of it had been unreal, the ache in his chest right now wasn't.

In the dream, he had been an invisible spectator, he could only silently watch as all the images flashed in front of him. In the beginning he couldn't make out anything except a few events here and there that had happened in the past. He was able to recognize a few gym battles and some silly Team Rocket schemes, but he felt that in the dream something had changed about these happenings but because of how quickly they were flashing, he couldn't put a finger on it.

Suddenly they came to a stop at today's morning.

Ash watched himself struggle in the sleeping bag, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep before Misty dragged him out forcefully.

He gulped and thought there was something wrong with that sentence but he didn't have time to pause and mull over it as the next scene unfolded in front of his eyes.

"Might I remind you Ash Ketchum, that we're all heading to the next town because of _your_ gym battle, so could you do all of us a favour by just getting up already?"

If he had a mouth in the dream, it would've dropped very low right about now because towering over his sleeping bag was someone he hadn't laid his eyes on in forever. She was still the same and yet different in so many ways. Her hair was longer now and not tied up tightly in its usual position, but flowing freely just a little past her shoulders. She seemed a little shorter, or maybe he was getting taller? Her frame was more slender than scrawny now and (he couldn't help but notice) a little more curvy. She wore a plain white crop top and deep blue denim cut-offs and he was surprised that his dream self hadn't turned as red as a Darmanitan looking at her bare midriff. What hadn't changed were her beat up red sneakers and her determined cerulean eyes. Right now those fiercely green eyes were glaring daggers at his sleeping form and that glare made a cold shiver run down his spine, making Ash reach the conclusion that Misty would always retain the ability to scare him to death.

 _Misty._

It felt just so weird to even think of her name and yet here she was standing in front him as normal as ever. It had been a long while since Ash had gotten in touch with her, as far as he could remember , he definitely hadn't spoken or written to her after leaving for Sinnoh. So why was he suddenly dreaming about her in Kalos?

"Geez, Mist. Why do you have to be so loud in the morning?"

Really, if Ash had a mouth right now it would've been touching the ground. His dream self had replied so casually it shocked him, hadn't that Ash noticed that it was Misty who was standing over him? Misty, who was supposed to be in Kanto and not Kalos, was scolding him for sleeping in late.

"Well if you want to play it that way. Pikachu, you want to take over?" Ash noticed that her voice still turned sweeter when addressing Pikachu. It still annoyed him a little.

He watched, awestruck, as Misty walked towards Serena and Clemont who had already finished packing up and Pikachu thundershocked him, making him spring up into a sitting position instantly. Bonnie stood next to him as he started getting out of the sleeping bag, all the while pouting at Pikachu. Ash wasn't interested in his lazy self, he instantly turned his gaze (even though he didn't have any eyes to do that in the dream) towards Misty who was talking normally with Clemont and Serena about their breakfast.

"It's been a month since we started travelling together, and still this happens almost every other day. I guess I just have to get used to it." Serena chuckled, looking sideways at Ash.

"Oh you will, trust me. It took me only about a week or two to realize that he's a lazy bum." Misty replied.

"And yet you've come this far with him!" Clemont laughed and Ash was sure that a blush crept up the fiery redhead's cheek but his head was buzzing strangely and he couldn't bring himself to take a closer look.

This whole scene was so familiar that it was giving him a headache. The only difference was that when it happened in the morning, when it had _really_ happened in the morning, from the beginning it had been Pikachu who had been trying to wake him up and it had just been Clemont and Serena talking. The Kanto girl had been nowhere near and of course she _couldn't_ have been! She was in Kanto after all, she had been there for a long time now. She hadn't dragged him out of bed or made snide remarks about his bad habits in a long time now.

So why right now, was his brain showing him this?

"Well it's because he owes me a lot of things!" Misty replied promptly, the red now fading from her cheeks.

"Oh please do enlighten me about what I owe you." His dream version replied sarcastically, an annoyed frown etched on his face as he zipped up his jacket and put on his cap.

"You owe me a lot of money for all the mental trauma that comes with travelling with you for so long." Misty fired back, a smirk playing on her lips.

Dream Ash scowled at her in reply, "I don't owe you any such thing."

"Do too." She replied in a singsong voice.

"Do not."

He watched as his other three companions just rolled their eyes at the bickering duo and proceeded to set off for the next town like they were used to seeing this every morning. But they shouldn't be used to it. They shouldn't be used to _Misty_.

The five of them set off on the path for the next town, with Clemont, Ash and Pikachu in the lead and the three girls trailing behind. Bonnie was very intently listening to Misty narrate how Dawn caught her Pachirisu and Serena interrupted her occasionally, asking questions about Sinnoh which the redhead answered flawlessly. Bonnie asked her how Misty had caught her Oshawott and the redhead answered that he had followed them from Professor Juniper's lab after Trip had rejected him. Naturally, being a Water type trainer, Misty had decided to keep him.

He tried closing his eyes because he didn't want to look at whatever this was anymore, he wanted to wake up. This was all wrong, completely wrong. Watching himself argue with Misty like they were ten year olds again, watching her talk about his journey like she had been there next to him the entire time made his heart ache in a manner that it hadn't before. He just wanted to turn it off, and forget about it in the morning.

Goodbyes had always been painful for him and if it had been up to Ash, he would've made all his friends travel with him till the end of the world. But he had to accept that they all had different goals and dreams, different duties and responsibilities. That they couldn't always stay together but they would always be friends. That's why Ash never hesitated in making new friends every time he started a new journey, sure he might have to part with them later but he'll still have some cherished memories to look back on and it was anytime better than travelling alone.

Saying goodbye to Misty had been the toughest for him. She had been next to him from the beginning and she had supported him when he was even less than an amateur, when he was just a kid. Misty had made him _stronger_ , she had made him realize what having a friend meant. And not having her yell at him for being so stupid during his battles was something that he thought he would never get used to, but somehow he had managed to do that. Then this dream came along, and broke down all the walls he had built around his memories of her, making him remember just how much he did miss her and how much he wanted her to be here with him.

Ash attempted to shake his head or move his body in order to get up and stop dreaming. But he only ended up tossing and turning in the sleeping bag, annoying Pikachu a little.

What he did manage to do was change the scene to his relief.

But that relieved feeling didn't last long as he noticed it was just him and Misty now. They were sitting on the same riverbank that Ash had walked towards to clear his head after he woke up. His dream version was sitting with his legs crossed, leaning on his palms with Pikachu asleep in his lap. Misty was sitting next to him (quiet close he noticed), with her feet submerged in the river and her eyes on Pikachu. Ash willed his brain to stop because he was sure that he wasn't ready for whatever his head was planning to show him, but to no avail the dream continued.

"Sometimes when I look at Pikachu, I really miss Togetic." Misty muttered, her eyes leaving Pikachu and facing the stars above them.

Dream Ash had been intently observing the water for any sign of a new Pokemon but the sadness in Misty's voice made him turn his gaze towards her.

"It was the right thing to do." His dream version replied softly.

Ash noticed that Misty's eyes were shining and he realized that she might start crying. There were a lot of things that he had locked up at the back of his head and forgotten about it, Togetic and its departure from Misty's life being one of them.

"Ah, I think I like Kalos the best till now. It has that romantic feeling, the other regions didn't have." Misty grinned at the stars, blinking back her tears.

Dream Ash frowned at that, "Romantic feeling? It has cool Pokémon, that's for sure."

"Iris is right, you're such a kid." Misty pouted at him, her cerulean eyes showing a tinge of disappointment.

At that point Ash wished he could replace his dream version. Watching it from a third person's point of view, even his naïve self could understand what Misty had been hinting at. Brock and his mom had teased him about it a few times but Ash had been totally clueless at that time and he probably would've continued to be so if he hadn't had this weird dream tonight. He had met a lot of girls during his journey, and quite a few of them according to Brock wanted him as more than a friend. But whenever anyone had asked his younger self, if he would like to be more than just friends with someone, he had promptly given them Misty's name. At that time he thought being more than friends, meant being best friends and well that's what the redhead had always been to him so he was never shy of taking her name in these situations.

Brock constantly chasing girls had been Ash's only way of understanding the genre of romance and anyone will admit that it's not the best inspiration. Misty often talked about it though, he remembered those things quite clearly. She talked about prince charmings and candle light dinners, which ten and eleven year old Ash had considered a huge waste of time. Even Dawn would occasionally talk about romantic evenings and Ash assumed that it's just something girls did. He never really gave much thought to it as he had a pretty solid one track mind which was focused solely on his ambition.

Right now however, the setting in front of him was quite similar to what Misty and Dawn had always talked about so wistfully. The stars in the sky, the moon reflected in the river, the lack of distance between his dream self and his best friend. Ash felt a pang in his chest, a kind of feeling he had only experienced with things related to Pokemon and battling. He felt jealous. He couldn't understand why he felt like that, since it was him sitting there and this was, after all, just a dream.

The frustration of not being able to understand what he was feeling, coupled with the frustration of just being a mute spectator in the dream was too much for the raven haired boy to handle. Ash wasn't used to thinking in his sleep, he rarely ever thought about things when he was wide awake, so he attempted to wake up yet again and he would've succeeded too, if only he had kept his ears closed.

"I hope you do amazingly well in the Kalos League, Ash. I wish for it almost every day."

Ash really didn't know much about romantic moments, but to him the scene in front of his eyes definitely seemed like one. The smile Misty was giving his dream-self right now was beyond beautiful, it was bright and hopeful, it reached her eyes and made them shine in the most stunning way possible. It filled his heart with so much warmth and optimism, that he felt like he could become the Pokemon Master the moment he woke up.

He figured his dream-Ash felt the same as he quickly looked away from Misty, his cheeks tinted with red as he mumbled back a reply, "Yeah…Unova was pretty bad, wasn't it."

"That's not true! You did your best Ash, and come on we had so much fun there."

" _You_ had so much fun, picking on me with Iris." Dream Ash scowled slightly at the redhead sitting next to him as he remembered all the times the two girls had ganged up against him.

"I must say, I really do miss Iris." Misty grinned cheekily at him.

"Also because Cress was totally hitting on you." Ash could sense annoyance in his dream version's voice so he made a mental note to make sure that Misty stayed as far as possible from Cress.

"He was not, and awh, are you jealous Ash?" She teased him, her voice just a tad bit hopeful.

"Why would I be?" Dream Ash countered, now looking her straight in the eyes, determined not to back down first. Ash groaned internally and screamed at his dream self to take back what he had just said and tell Misty that yes he was jealous, very jealous. He realized that he no longer wanted to be the third party in this sequence, he wanted to be in his body, sitting next to Misty and tell her how much he missed her, how mad he was at her for not coming back to him, how mad he was at himself for not keeping in touch with her and a million other things that he knew would come pouring out of his mouth the second he'd get to see her.

It was surprising to see Misty be the one to back down first but it looked like she could no longer hold Dream Ash's gaze without a flaming red colour covering her face. She scowled at him and looked away, murmuring something under her breath which Ash didn't catch. What he did see was the triumphant grin on his dream self's face as if he had just won a really important match, which made him groan in frustration. Paul had been right in telling Ash that he had zero awareness about his surroundings sometimes. The dream ended there as suddenly as it had begun, with Misty looking disappointed and Dream Ash looking like the idiot that he truly was.

Ash glanced at the empty spot next to him, where the redhead could have been sitting right now if things had gone differently in their journeys. This weird, out of the body experience had put into his brain the thoughts he had been so successfully avoiding for the past few years, and that too in such a manner that now Ash had no choice but to face them. Simple thoughts like how he missed Misty. Actually, he missed all his friends. And yet with Misty it was different. When he'd occasionally think about her, the burning desire to see her face, to hear her voice that would pop up in his heart was something that he couldn't explain. All he could do and had ever done was push that feeling away, because he always had other things to think about.

There hadn't been a time in Ash's life when had hadn't been surrounded by friends and people who cared about him, but ever since he left Unova he had this lingering feeling at the back of his head that something was missing. He'd told Pikachu about it, and his best friend had simply hinted towards their loss at Unova league and of course Ash had accepted that as a valid answer.

This dream had confused him and aggravated him more than ever, but it had made at least one thing very explicitly clear to the raven haired teen. It wasn't something that was missing in his life but rather someone.

"What are you doing?" Serena peeked over his shoulder, curiosity laced in her voice.

Ash quickly scrambled to hide the piece of paper from her eyes and turned around to face her, smiling nervously he answered, "Just uh, writing a letter."

-x-

 **A/N:** Reviews are always appreciated. Marking it complete because who knows when I'll actually write the next half~


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